My mom, who is disabled, watches a lot of TV now. I am always looking for new shows for her to watch. There are just so many times I can stand re-watching Gossip Girl, so I have resorted to searching … Continue reading Foreign TV Watch: Velvet (Spain)
This post is part of the 3rd Annual Favourite TV Episode Blogathon, hosted by Terry of A Shroud of Thoughts. Read the rest of the posts in this event HERE!
The British comedy series Blackadder (originally called “The Black Adder” during Season 1) is unique in many ways. While all center on a character named Edmund Blackadder (played by Rowan Atkinson), each season takes place during a different period of British history.
Continue reading “Favourite TV Episode Blogathon: Blackadder – “Head””
Originally posted on MOON IN GEMINI:
This post is part of the “Love Hurt” Blogathon, hosted by Janet at Sister Celluloid. Read the other posts about the amazing John Hurt here! Robert Graves’ remarkable historical novels about the first Emperors… Continue reading John Hurt’s Show-Stopping Turn as Caligula in I, Claudius
I did my awards post for 2016 a few weeks ago but realized I left out a few things. This week I’m going to list my favorite new shows that debuted last year:
Continue reading “My Favorite New TV Shows that Debuted in 2016”
The Great British Baking Show, as it is known on this side of the pond (in Great Britain it is The Great British Bake Off) stands high above the waves in a sea of cooking competition shows.
Continue reading “The Great British Baking Show is Great TV”
BIG SPOILERS FOR SEASON 6 OF GAME OF THRONES.
How about that season of Game of Thrones? The first one to truly disembark from the books (with only a few sections from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons thrown in) it hit way more highs than lows. Winter is FINALLY here, and it’s awesome!
Continue reading “Game of Thrones, Season 6: The Great, the Good, the Meh & the Ugly”
This post is part of the Nature’s Fury Blogathon, hosted by Barry at Cinematic Catharsis. Read the rest of the posts in this furious event HERE!
Film and television have a long tradition of showing us how nature will one day turn against us, and most likely with help from human beings.
Stephen King’s epic apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic novel The Stand is a tale of how government manipulation of the flu bug for militaristic purposes accidentally escapes from a lab and wipes out most of the population.
Continue reading “Nature’s Fury Blogathon: The Stand (1994)”
As a reader of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, it felt decidedly strange going into the Season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones. With the exception of some parts from A Feast of Crows, going forward the TV series is moving beyond events in the first five published books. We’re still waiting for publication of The Winds of Winter, the penultimate book in the series.
Continue reading “Game of Thrones Season 6 Premiere: Minor Characters Matter”
This post is part of The Golden Boy Blogathon: A William Holden Celebration, hosted by Virginie at The Wonderful World of Cinema. Read the rest of the posts for this event HERE!
Big movie stars appearing on TV shows is fairly common nowadays—sometimes playing characters, sometimes playing themselves. We call it “stunt casting.” The classic 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy, which was a groundbreaking show in many respects, pretty much invented the practice. It has rarely, if ever, been done as well since.
Continue reading “William Holden Meets Lucy Ricardo, Hilarity Ensues!”
This post is part of the 2nd Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon, hosted by Terry at A Shroud of Thoughts. Read the rest of the entries for this event HERE!
I can’t tell you how much I envy young girls today. Young women can watch movies and TV shows with amazing heroines such as Rey, Katniss, Hermione, Tris, Peggy Carter, the female Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as long overdue reboots of classic action heroines such as Supergirl and Wonder Woman.
It’s far from perfect and we still have a long way to go, but when I was a little girl, during the mid-1960s, the list was much, much shorter. Continue reading “F Troop: The Courtship of Wrangler Jane”
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 6 OF DOWNTON ABBEY. DO NOT READ IF YOU STILL PLAN TO CATCH UP ON THE FINAL SEASON.
It’s over! It’s all over! No more snarky bon mots by Violet! No more snarky anything from Mary! No more life treating Edith like the raggedy puppy mean people want to kick! No more members of the Bates family arrested on trumped-up criminal charges! No more Carson wringing his hands over the way his world is changing!
Whatever shall we do?
Continue reading “Random Thoughts on the Final Season of Downton Abbey”
This post is part of The Hispanic Heritage Blogathon 2015, hosted by Aurora at Once Upon a Screen. Read the rest of the posts in this event HERE!
When my family lived in Spain, I frequently heard radionovelas (the Spanish equivalent of radio soap operas here in America) playing in the background. My mother and our maid Carmen would often do the ironing while they were on.
Continue reading “Telenovelas and their Influence on American TV”
Late last year I wrote about some television shows I was looking forward to in 2015. Most on the list have already been broadcast, so I thought it was a good time for a review before the official start of the 2015 Fall season. (Does that even have meaning anymore? Shows debut every period of the year. Oh, well, another topic for another day.) Continue reading “2015 TV Shows I Was Looking Forward To – How’d They Do?”
This post is part of the “Love Hurt” Blogathon, hosted by Janet at Sister Celluloid. Read the other posts about the amazing John Hurt here!
Robert Graves’ remarkable historical novels about the first Emperors of Rome were adapted for television in 1976 by the BBC. To this day I, Claudius is considered one of the best mini-series of all time. Though the production seems antiquated now, it hardly matters. Featuring many great performances, including Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Sian Phillips as his murderous grandmother Livia, Brian Blessed as Emperor Augustus, George Baker as Emperor Tiberius, Margaret Tyzack as Antonia, and Patrick Stewart as Sejanus, among others, it would take a lot to stand out in this crowd of amazing thespians.
John Hurt, as Caligula, does just that.
Continue reading “John Hurt’s Show-Stopping Turn as Caligula in I, Claudius”
This post is my contribution to the My Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon, hosted by Terry of A Shroud of Thoughts. Read the rest of the contributions HERE!
When I was in junior high school, Monty Python’s Flying Circus was very, very big with my classmates. I watched a few episodes but didn’t care for it. It just wasn’t my cup of tea–at least, at the time. (I love it now.)
So I wasn’t that interested in seeing Fawlty Towers, starring and co-written by Monty Python alum John Cleese, when it was first broadcast on my local public television station.
The only reason I checked it out at all is because the first Masterpiece Theater showing of Poldark, starring Robin Ellis, had just finished. After the credits rolled, an announcer bade the audience to stick around to see Ellis guest star in the first episode of Fawlty Towers.
I wasn’t ready to let go of Poldark quite yet (yes, I had a crush on Robin Ellis) so I watched the pilot episode of Fawlty Towers, A Touch of Class.
Need I say more? Of course, I was immediately hooked.
